Last week, the faculty of NYU authorized a no-confidence vote, a move that could lead to President Sexton's termination. They write, "The NYU 2031 Sexton Plan, the administration’s ill advised multi-billion dollar plan to expand the university within Greenwich Village, was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back." And now, some key quotes from the must-read book While We Were Sleeping: NYU and the Destruction of New York.
"It's not just NYU. There are days when I feel like I'm stranded in some upscale mall in Pasadena. Don't even get me started on the insidious transformation of Bleecker Street!" --Jessica Hagedorn
"Those little garden plots on the corner of Bleecker and LaGuardia may
not be on our way to anywhere. And yet we need them, we seek them out,
to smell the wet earth, to remember the feel of soil drying on our
hands, the smell of a fresh tomato, the wonder of a dogwood blooming.
I'm sure NYU has computed the dimensions of this garden, but they are
using the wrong units of measurements." --Peter Carey
"The tall buildings started to pop up all over the place. In the east village that used to groan when the fall came ('NYU' we'd hiss) and it meant that the east village was always our neighborhood but come fall all these kiddies would suddenly be streaming into the streets with their avidity and suburban fashion. But there were more of us than them so the problem was fortunately contained. They were actually still part of what there was. And there were many things here including students. Then by the 21st c. they were living in our buildings. Not like us, but like them. Their parents bought them apartments or else were paying the rent which was five times higher than ours. They were wandering (or running) through the halls of our building at night with their beers or also in their bathrobes between apartments with their cups of tea. They were incredibly loud. The way they were talking. Like no one was living here. Like they were living in a dorm. They were." --Eileen Myles
After NYU's expansion, "There will no NYU, no Village. Just another herd
of de-zoned skyscrapers ready for another wrecking ball, another rage
of 'development,' another detraction from New York City, that
which makes it different from the featureless, dangerous inhuman
depopulated streets of Downtowns USA across the country." --Kenneth
"In the past, heartland whites with some kind of dream or desire left their towns for cities to become citified. They wanted to get away from religion, from their families, they wanted to come out, make art, have sex, have experiences. But this new crew was something we had never seen before. They were the first generation of suburban Americans. They came, not to be citified, but rather to change cities into places they could recognize and dominate." --Sarah Schulman